The FBI says that bad actors took $ 16.6 billion through online crimes

Online fraudsters deceived people from a record amount of money in 2024, according to a recent report issued by the online crime complaint center at the FBI (IC3).

IC3 said Wednesday in “Laha”2024 Internet crime report“The total losses caused by online fraud and other online malignant activity reached $ 16.6 billion, an increase of 33 % over the previous year.

The report said that people over the age of 60 represent the largest number of complaints (more than 147100) and the largest amount of losses ($ 4.8 billion).

In 2024, IC3 filed more than 859,500 complaints from people of all ages who said they were a victim Online fraud and electronic devices.

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The complaints received by IC3 were crimes in categories such as hunting/deception, extortion, violation of personal data, non -payment, investment, technical support And more.

There was more than 193400 complaints about hunting or deception, making it the most common type of Internet crime in IC3 in 2024, according to the report.

Cross -coded crimes They were in the middle of approximately 14,700 complaints.

The IC3 report also detailed the inconsistent losses of various fraud and online crimes.

For example, fraud in investing in losses of $ 6.57 billion in 2024. Business mail was settled $ 2.77 billion from people.

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He said B. Chad Yarbro, director of the FBI operations in the field of crime and cyber: “fraud represents the largest part of the reported losses in 2024, and Ransomwari again was the most widespread threat to critical infrastructure, with 9 % complaints of 2023.”

Nearly 83 % of all losses are caused by fraud in the Internet, and crimes in which criminals use “the Internet or other technology to commit fraudulent activities, and often include stealing money, data, identity, or creating false goods or services,” IC3 said. This led to losses of $ 13.7 billion in 2024, according to the report.

IC3 also said that the encrypted currency “has become a attractive way to deceive investors, wash revenue, and participate in illegal plans.” In 2024, the losses caused by the coded currency fraud recorded an increase of 66 % on an annual basis, with a total of $ 9.3 billion.

In the report, Yarbrough warned that “the surface of the attack” of bad online actors “has grown greatly” as “almost all aspects of our lives has become digitally linked.”

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“The fraudsters are increasingly using the Internet to theft The savings of the Americans gained hardHe said with today’s technology, it may take mere clicks on a keyboard to kidnap networks, water systems, or even virtual exchanges, “he said.

IC3, which was created in 2000, has witnessed about 4.2 million complaints of online fraud and Internet devices over the past five years. She said that the losses during this time frame amounted to $ 50.5 billion.